All woman Indian bank's first branch in Lucknow

Lucknow, India, 20 Nov 2013: The first branch of India's first all-woman bank - Bharatiya Mahila Bank - opened in Lucknow on Tuesday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi inaugurated the branch via video conferencing from Mumbai. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram was also be present.The Bharatiya Mahila Bank has been set up by the government exclusively for women and will predominantly employ women. One of the key objectives of the bank is to focus on the banking needs of women and promote economic empowerment through women's growth and development. The bank has appointed an all-women board of 8 members.

Other branches that would become operational today include Guwahati, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. The government had also proposed opening of branches in Delhi and Indore, but inauguration of these branches was disallowed by the Election Commission because of elections in these states. The inauguration of these branches coincides with the birth anniversary of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Headquartered in Delhi, the government has targeted setting up of 25 such branches across the country by March 31, 2014.According to reports, the bank will have 39 branches (including mobile and satellite branches) and 127 ATMs by the end of the first year of its operations. It will reportedly have 33,299 customer accounts by the end of the first year.

In the Budget speech of 2012-13, Mr Chidambaram had announced a sum of Rs. 1,000 crore as the seed capital for the establishment of the Bharatiya Mahila Bank.Source: Varie